Mom's Book

by Janet Neilson
St. Louis, Missouri (about 1980)

Note: These poems were copied by Ted Lollis from "Mom's Book," a 38-page undated volume of
Janet Neilson's poems created for her by members of her family.

The copy in our cottage is inscribed "To George and Mary Evalyn.With Love --- Janet."

Here are her three poems about Campbell Park in Pentwater, Michigan:

CLIMBING TO TANK HILL We climb together The steep winding path Leaving behind us The sound of the waves As they wash the sands Of the shore. Breaking through a curtain Of scrub oak and hemlock We find the old ridge path Worn deep By summers of footsteps, Winding up through the years. Through feathery bracken That borders the way, Set with wintergreen, Sparkled with dew-dotted silk, We climb As we brush glistening cobwebs away. The fresh scent of morning Bears the song of a thrush. A vireo, meek but persistent, And the tune of the tanager Measures its cadence. We part the last branches Revealing the summit And feel the full sun On our upturned faces, Our feet sliding cool In the velvety sand At the top of the world, In the blue of the sky.

LAKE MICHIGAN SUNSET The waves whisper their vespers For me as I linger alone Watching the great hot ball Sink into its own mirage, Sputtering and shattering itself In the cold of the Crescent horizon. Broken bits of blazing gold nuggets Chuckle their way to my feet When I stand In the soul of the sand. They bounce on the waves In a playful ballet And wriggle fishlike Beheath lavender ripples Awash on a golden path. I kneel in the hush of the light Gathering my riches Into my arms In the violet edge Of the night.

PURPLE MARTINS Martins have finally found Campbell Park, The Griggsville clan I prefer to believe, From Illinois, the best of course, Accepting a gracious invitation Of Griggsville apartments For let. Gurbling and trilling They carry on As the best martins should And we all feel More---at---home---. For Betty and Van Pentwater, June 1976 (who maintained a purple martin box for many years by the boardwalk in front of their Campbell Park cottage)